Working Paper: NBER ID: w30581
Authors: Ao Wang; Shaoda Wang; Xiaoyang Ye
Abstract: We experimentally test how psychological motivations can impact the processing of purely objective information. We first document that, when the high-stakes College Entrance Exam is held in the month of Ramadan, Chinese Muslim students perform significantly worse. When asked about the impact of fasting, they severely underestimate the cost of taking the exam during Ramadan, even when presented with direct empirical evidence. In the experiment, we randomly offer students reading materials in which well-respected Muslim clerics explain that it is permissible to postpone the fast until after the exam. Consistent with an interpretation of motivated cognition, students who receive the material distort the statistics about the fasting cost significantly less, and become more accepting of delaying the fast for the exam.
Keywords: motivated cognition; Ramadan; college entrance exam; psychological motivations; information processing
JEL Codes: D91; I21; Z12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| motivated cognition (D91) | how individuals process information that conflicts with their values (D80) |
| overlap of Ramadan with college entrance exam (Z12) | Muslim students' performance (P40) |
| pro-exemption reading materials (Y20) | students' perceptions of fasting and exam performance (C90) |
| motivational conflict (D74) | observed differences in performance (D29) |
| pro-exemption reading material (Y20) | underestimation of performance gap (D29) |
| strictly observing Ramadan fasting (Z12) | treatment effects on perceptions of acceptable fasting behavior (D91) |